Brian Matthews hasn't been at Roselle Park long, but he understands the excitement as the program prepares for its first playoff appearance in more than a decade.

Thanks in large part to Matthews' efforts Saturday, Roselle Park will enter the postseason with even more wind behind its sail.

Matthews, a junior transfer from Brick Township, ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns, passed for 63 and a score, and made a game-saving tackle on his own 3-yard line as time expired as Roselle Park defeated New Providence, 35-28, at Lieder Field in New Providence.

With the victory, Roselle Park improves to 6-2 and will likely be the second-overall seed in North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1, giving the Panthers home field advantage for their first playoff-qualifying campaign since 2001.

“It feels great,” Matthews said. “I can’t wait to play in that game. I’m just excited. And it’s going to be at home.”

“I started working with these kids when I got the job, just painting the locker room, sweeping the locker room, and building a relationship,” said first-year coach Terry Hanratty, another newcomer. “And it’s gone from talking about being a contender, to now actually being a team to watch.”

Roselle Park jumped out to leads of 21-0 and 28-7 in the first half, turning three New Providence turnovers into touchdowns on the ensuing possessions. But New Providence (6-2) didn't back down. The Pioneers pulled to 28-14 after Derek Singer's 8-yard touchdown run with 1:06 left in the second quarter, then scored 14 unanswered third-quarter points to tie the game, taking advantage of a Roselle Park turnover to get the second score, a 4-yard run by Singer, with 5:18 left in the third. Vinny Sidoli scored New Providence's other two touchdowns on runs of 11 and 5-yards.

With the game tied, Matthews took control. Operating out of the wildcat for almost the entirety of the drive, and getting help when a failed third-down conversion turned into a first down via a 5-yard bench penalty on New Providence, Matthews led Roselle Park on a 13-play, 80-yard drive, capping it with a 2-yard run to make it 35-28 with 10:31 left.

“We wanted to spread them out a little bit, and let Brian run a little bit, and it worked out for us,” Hanratty said. “He’s a great player, these kids are great. They don’t give up, and they’re tough.”

Hanratty credited his staff, in particular, associate head coach Greg Dunkerton, who coaches the offensive line, for the victory. Dunkerton's unit, anchored by Marc Signorello, Rob Bianchi, Kevin Metellus, Eric Romero, and Greg Kurywczak, paved the way for Roselle Park to run for 186 total yards and didn't allow a sack. Quarterback Jordan Andre and halfback Rich Johns each ran for a score, and Brandon Pugliese had three catches for 93 yards and a touchdown for Roselle Park.

New Providence had one last gasp, taking over on its own 20 with 49 seconds left and no timeouts, and almost completed the comeback. On the final play, quarterback Jack Harvey, who shook off two first-half interceptions to throw for 104 yards and run for 172, hit Singer for what looked like a potential touchdown from the Roselle Park 30, but Matthews made the tackle on the 3-yard line to preserve the victory.

New Providence, playing for the first time in more than three weeks due to a bye week prior to the Hurricane Sandy-caused delay, out-gained Roselle Park, 405-285, but could not overcome its early miscues.

"I'm happy with the way our kids fought," said first-year New Providence coach Joe Carollo, whose team will likely be the third seed in North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1. "We had basically a month layoff, and I thought that was a very difficult thing in the first half for us to overcome."